Sensing trouble, TRS goes slow

TRS cadre restive over admission of leaders from other parties

The release of list of candidates for Assembly and Parliament elections by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has run into rough weather due to unforeseen circumstances caused by the admission of senior leaders from other parties and the resultant heartburn among the cadre expecting ticket in a few constituencies.

TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao had promised to release the list last Monday, but it is now unlikely that it would be done till the last day of withdrawal of nominations for mandal and zilla parishad elections on March 24, sources said.

Mr. Rao is apparently buying time to pacify ticket aspirants, particularly at Kalwakurthy, Gadwal and Warangal (East), where leaders from Telugu Desam and Congress joined the TRS and he straightaway promised them berth.

In addition, the TRS has set in motion negotiations with the CPI on seat sharing as part of an alliance which has derailed the process of selection. The admission of TDP MLA of Kalwakurthy G. Jaipal Yadav has resulted in serious resentment among at least two aspirants Goli Srinivas Reddy and Balaji Singh; the latter was also the constituency in-charge. The same was the case at Gadwal where former MLA Gattu Bheemudu was aspiring ticket but Mr. Rao announced the candidature of Mr. B. Krishnamohan Reddy who switched over from TDP.

The former Congress Minister Konda Surekha and her husband Muralidhar Rao also joined the TRS which resulted in defiance openly by Atcha Vidyasagar, candidate in last elections, and an advocate G. Ravi Kumar at Warangal (East). The admission of TDP MLAs K.S. Ratnam and P. Mahender Reddy at Chevella and Tandur has virtually ruled out the chances of aspirants Mr. Anjaneyulu and Mr. Rohit respectively.

The TRS is also forced to buy time after the CPI demanded 15 to 20 Assembly and Khammam, Nalgonda and Bhongir Parliamentary constituencies in alliance. The party has sounded out a couple of its likely candidates to be prepared to contest Assembly polls if they could not be accommodated in Parliament seats in view of the alliance.

A senior TRS leader told The Hindu that nine TDP and four Congress MLAs were ready to join TRS but the party adopted “pick and choose” method not to hurt its cadre. That was how Ms. Surekha was shown an alternative though the couple demanded Parkal and Bhoopalpalli Assembly constituencies.

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Workers carryingout repairs to Visakhapatnam District Collector's Office, as it was damaged in Cyclone Hudhud in 2014 October. The majestic heritage building was designed and built by Dutch engineering company Gannon Dunkerly in 1865 and completed by 1914. Photos: C.V. Subrahmanyam